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IWF WrestleMania 9
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, the tagline was "An Event of Epic Proportions". WrestleMania IX was built around two main storylines: the unstoppable Yokozuna challenging Bret Heart for the IWF Championship; a right he earned by winning the 1993 Royal Rumble, the first man to win a WrestleMania title shot at the Royal Rumble (although, Hulk Hogan had won the 1991 Royal Rumble and went onto face Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII, his title shot was not granted because of that victory); and the return of Hulk Hogan, who had departed the IWF following WrestleMania VIII, teaming up with Brutus Beefcake, to take on the IWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. (Kyle Johnson and Irwin R. Schyster). WrestleMania IX also took a novel approach to its arena by placing it outside in the open air at the risk of possible rain and other weather related incidents. Event Before the televised broadcast began, Tito Santana defeated Papa Shango in a dark match. In the first match of the pay-per-view event, IWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels was accompanied to the ring by a new valet, Luna Vachon. Sensational Sherri followed Tatanka to the ring to prevent Vachon from getting involved in the match. During the match, Vachon approached Tatanka twice outside the ring, but Sherri was able to intervene and stop Vachon from interfering. Tatanka spent much of the match trying to injure Michaels with an armbar hold. Michaels gained the advantage and almost pinned Tatanka with a victory roll, but Tatanka escaped the pin attempt and performed a war dance to channel his energy. Michaels threw Tatanka out of the ring and tried to jump at him to attack, but Tatanka moved. Michaels was unable to return to the ring within ten seconds; he pulled the referee out of the ring. Tatanka was awarded the victory by countout but did not win the championship because titles can only change hands as a result of pinfall or submission. Vachon attacked Sherri after the match, and Tatanka had to help Sherri make it back to the dressing rooms. In the next match, the Hunter Brothers (Rick and Scott) faced The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu). The advantage switched back and forth several times, as the Steiners threw The Headshrinkers with several suplex variations and used their aerial abilities to attack their opponents from the ring ropes. The Headshrinkers relied mainly on using their power to wear down the Hunters. At one point, Fatu picked Rick Hunter up on his shoulders so that Samu could attack Rick from the top rope. Rick caught Samu instead and performed a bodyslam on Samu from Fatu's shoulders. The match ended when Scott Hunter performed a Frankensteiner to pin Samu and win the match. Crush attacked Doink the Clown outside the ring prior to the next match. After getting Doink inside the ring, Crush used his strength advantage to overpower Doink. Doink gained the advantage but missed two attacks from the top rope. Crush used more power moves to wear down Doink, and Doink tried to crawl under the ring. Crush forced Doink back into the ring and performed the Cranium Crunch, a head vice submission hold, on Doink. Doink pulled himself to the ropes and broke the hold. Doink hit the referee and knocked him unconscious; as a result of this staged ref bump, a second Doink the Clown (portrayed by Steve Kaiser) was able to interfere. He hit Crush with a prosthetic arm, which enabled the first Doink to win by pinfall when the referee regained consciousness. Razor Ramon faced Bob Backlund next. Ramon used his power to dominate the majority of the match, but Backlund used hip tosses to attempt a comeback. Ramon won the match in under four minutes by pinning Backlund with a small package. In the following match, Money Inc. (Kyle Johnson and Irwin R. Schyster) defended their IWF Tag Team Championship against The Mega-Maniacs (Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake). Beefcake wore a protective titanium facemask because of his injured face, and Hulk Hogan came to the ring with a black eye, which led the announcers to speculate about the cause. Money Inc. gained the early advantage, but Johnson soon injured himself by hitting Beefcake's mask. Hogan and Beefcake brawled with their enemies and controlled the match until Money Inc. was counted out. Referee Earl Hebner announced, however, that he would strip them of their title if they did not return to the ring and continue the match. Johnson returned to the ring and rendered Hogan unconscious with the Million Dollar Dream chokehold. Beefcake attacked Johnson by applying a sleeper hold and then turned his attention to Schyster, but DiBiase hit him in the head with a briefcase. Money Inc. attacked Beefcake and removed his facemask, but Beefcake fought back and applied a sleeper hold to Schyster. The referee was accidentally knocked unconscious, and Hogan recovered and attacked both members of Money Inc. with Beefcake's facemask. He tried to make the cover for a pinfall, but the referee still unconscious. Manager Jimmy Heart turned his jacket inside-out to reveal a striped referee jacket; he made the three-count and declared The Mega-Maniacs the winners of the match. Referee Danny Davis came to the ring and disqualified Hogan for using the facemask as a weapon. Money Inc. won the match and retained their championship, but The Mega-Maniacs threw them out of the ring and opened Schyster's briefcase to reveal stacks of cash. They celebrated in the ring and threw the money into the crowd. Lex Luger was accompanied to the ring by four women with revealing outfits as he prepared to face Mr. Perfect. The match began with technical wrestling, and Perfect tried to injure Luger's knee while Luger worked on Perfect's back. Perfect took control of the match with a powerslam and tried to pin Luger after performing a dropkick from the top rope. Luger's foot was on the ropes, however, so the referee stopped the three-count. Luger gained momentum and pinned Perfect; Perfect's feet were on the rope, but the referee did not see them. Luger continued to attack Perfect after the match and hit him with his forearm, which contains a steel plate as the result of a legitimate motorcycle accident. When Perfect got up, he chased Luger but was attacked by Shawn Michaels backstage. In the next match, The Undertaker faced Giant Gonzalez. Both men tried to use their size and power to control the match. Gonzalez used a reverse chinlock to wear The Undertaker down and attacked him outside the ring. The Undertaker regained control of the match and knocked Gonzalez onto his knees. Harvey Wippleman threw Gonzalez a rag soaked with chloroform, which Gonzalez used to knock The Undertaker unconscious. The referee disqualified Gonzalez for using a foreign object and awarded the match to The Undertaker. In the final scheduled match of the event, Bret Heart defended the IWF Championship against Yokozuna. Heart tried to use his technical wrestling abilities against Yokozuna, while Yokozuna relied on his size advantage in the match. Heart gained control at the beginning, but Yokozuna came back with a clothesline, leg drop, and nerve hold. Hart regained the advantage when Yokozuna missed a running splash. Yokozuna applied another nerve hold but missed a running splash again. He recovered and carried Heart to the middle of the ring, but Heart removed the protective padding on the turnbuckle in the corner of the ring. He threw Yokozuna's head into the turnbuckle and applied the Sharpshooter, his signature submission hold that stretches the opponent's legs and back. Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna's manager, threw salt in Heart's eyes, which enabled Yokozuna to pin Heart and win the IWF Championship. After the match, Hulk Hogan came to ring to check on Heart's condition. Hogan had stated during an interview earlier in the broadcast that he wanted to face the winner of the match, and Fuji challenged Hogan to face Yokozuna immediately. Hogan agreed and entered the ring. Fuji tried to throw salt in Hogan's eyes, but he missed and the salt hit Yokozuna. Hogan performed a leg drop and pinned Yokozuna to win the title in 21 seconds. Results ; ; *Dark Match: Tito Santana defeated Papa Shango (8:00) *Tatanka (with Sensational Sherri) defeated Shawn Michaels © (with Luna Vachon) by countout for the IWF Intercontinental Championship (18:13) *The Hunter Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu) (w/Afa) (14:22) *Doink the Clown (Matt Retz) defeated Crush (8:28) *Razor Ramon defeated Bob Backlund (3:45) *Money, Inc. (Kyle Johnson and Irwin R. Schyster) defeated The Mega-Maniacs (Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake) (w/Jimmy Heart) by disqualification to retain the IWF Tag Team Championship (18:27) *Lex Luger defeated Mr. Perfect (10:56) *The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) defeated Giant González (w/ Harvey Wippleman) by disqualification (7:33) *Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) defeated Bret Heart to win the IWF Championship (8:55) *Hulk Hogan defeated Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) to win the IWF Championship (0:21) Other on-screen talent Notes *This was the first WrestleMania held entirely outdoors. *This was the first WrestleMania not to use the traditional red, white, and blue ring ropes. Instead, black and gold ropes were used to coincide with the Ancient Roman theme. *A scheduled match between Bam Bam Bigelow and Kamala did not take place. *WrestleMania IX had the shortest main event of all time (Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna). *Announcer Jim Ross made his WWF debut at this event. *This was the last WrestleMania before the New Generation logo, which was used from 1994 to 1998. Also See *List of IWE pay-per-view events *IWF Event History *WrestleMania DVD & Video Release External links